President Trump takes office and issues a series of Executive Orders

Global Immigration alert

On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States for a second term and quickly issued a series of executive actions which laid out his policy and enforcement priorities for the new administration, many of which have an impact on immigration.

These include:

• A restrictive approach to immigration and refugee admissions
• Tightening border security
• Increasing enforcement measures
• Challenging birthright citizenship
  

Background

Recent presidential administrations have increasingly relied on executive action to pursue policy goals, as a president can implement quick changes by clarifying existing law and instructing governmental agencies on how to execute existing laws. It’s important to note that as quickly as these changes are issued, they can be reversed when a new president takes office or paused by the courts. As such, executive actions are not as durable as laws passed by Congress and can be challenged by litigation in the federal courts if plaintiffs argue that the actions are in contravention of existing laws or the Constitution.

Analysis

The recent Executive Orders (EOs) included directives calling for the following:

• Denial of birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to nonimmigrant or undocumented parents on or after 30 days of issuance of the EO. President Trump’s interpretation challenges the landmark Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), which held that the 14th Amendment ensures that children born to immigrants in the United States were entitled to US Citizenship. Multiple legal challenges were immediately filed to the EO, including by the ACLU and several state attorneys general. On January 23, 2025, a Washington state Federal Court judge issued an emergency stay of the Executive Order as unconstitutional.
  
• Enhanced vetting and screening measures of foreign nationals seeking admission into the United States in line with the first Trump administration policies, which included increased security-related questions and higher rates of administrative processing for background checks.
  
• A report within 60 days of EO issuance to identify a list of countries to which the partial or full suspension of admission of foreign nationals applies.
  
• Restricting the scope and grant of Temporary Protected Status and Parole, and terminating categorical parole programs, including for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
• Reducing the rate of issuance of employment authorization documents to unauthorized aliens.
• Prioritizing immigration enforcement and increasing efforts to remove foreign nationals with prior deportation orders, and wider use of expedited removal.
• Sanctions against countries that do not cooperate in identifying and accepting the return of foreign nationals ordered removed.
• A 90-day federal hiring freeze, except for positions related to immigration enforcement, national security or public safety.
• Directing department heads to terminate remote-work arrangements and instruct federal workers to return to office as soon as practical.
• A regulatory freeze on draft regulations and withdrawal of regulations sent for Office of the Federal Register review that have not yet been published in the Federal Register.
• Consideration of a 60-day postponement of implementation for recently issued regulations for review and to reopen for public comment.
  

What this means

The executive actions instruct the secretaries of the Departments of State, Homeland Security and others in the executive branch to prepare reports and recommendations on how to execute on these directives over the next 30 to 60 days.

In the coming days and weeks, we can expect to see the issuance of directives, guidance and policy memoranda which set forth how the departments will adjust their policies, processes and priorities in line with these orders. For example, the Department of Homeland Security recently published directives in the Federal Register notifying the public of how the department will expand the application and use of expedited removal for undocumented foreign nationals apprehended in the United States who are unable to demonstrate at least two years of residency.